Hello I am new to this forum. We have a 4 year old ( he acts like he is a year old) GWP. He is the top dog in our household. We also have three cats. I am thinking of getting a new puppy to join our household. One of the breeds I am looking into is the Cairn terrier. I was looking for suggestions on how to introduce the two when the time comes.

I have several wirehairs and a little terrier. My problem isn't with my wirehairs, but with the little male terrier trying to dominate my male wirehair. I finally had to separate them because the little dog kept pushing the issue and I could tell my GWP had had enough and wasn't going to back down anymore. I would recommend getting a female terrier and not another male. Terriers can be real dominate with other dogs. And they think they are a lot bigger than they are.

I also have terriers (5, 5 and 3 yrs old) along with our GWP (2yrs old) and I don't think male or female will make much of a difference. In fact my 15 lb female rules the house with an iron paw. The GWP totally submits to her.

On the other hand our youngest terrier, a 3 yr old male, tends to get into squabbles with the GWP. I think that is a function of fighting for pack order since both of them are on the bottom of the pecking order. The GWP will put up with the terrier pestering him into a fight until he's had enough (and he has a high threshold for this annoyance) and then will just throw it back at him. The rest of the time they are best buddies.

Otherwise ours get along pretty good with no major issues. I think the only concern I might have by bringing a tiny puppy (terrier size) into my home would be making sure the GWP understands that it is not game!

Thank you for your replies. We have a friends that have smaller dogs that come over to visit and he just loves to play with them.

Jake does live with three cats. We had a kitten when he brought him home for the first time. He adores his cats, too bad they all don't like him. Our male cat doesn't fear Jake at all. Jake will lick his head and scoot him around the floor. When one of the cats get scolded for something, no matter where he is at the house he comes running and stares at us, as to say "Don't yell at my cat!" and his tail is wagging a hundred miles an hour. Also when the cats don't come in at night, we send Jake out to get his kitties. He will go outside and sniff them out. We know when he finds them, he starts to whine and wag his tail. He is an awesome dog._________________www.dogster.com/?133914

You might be lucky and have one dog give in quickly. But I have seen two male dogs fighting it out get really bloody quick. More than I can take. I have never had that trouble with any of my male female combinations of different breeds including many GWP's. I tried to let a male GWP and an airedale settle their differences once. It got more vicious than I could take real quickly and I broke it up. I could also, if I chose, let my male GWP and my male cairn terrier settle their differences. But knowing how stubborn my little male cairn is I know it would get bloody fast.

I tend to agree, the problem is likely to come from the Terrier. Terriers are often dominant and persistant. They are also very active. These are the 3 worse quality to bring to a household where a dominant naturally cat chaser GWP rules. Even the most well behave GWP can end up ennoyed at such a little dog. If you can make sure that the Terrier will not learn to accept your GWP as the dominant one, you will have no problem, but you can count on having some work to be done. PLease, also add up to the equation the fact that Cairn are known to be very stubborn.
If a smnaller dog is what you want as a second dog, have you thought of a Beagle? Although they are not the easiest dog, they are very accepting of other dogs, very playfull, and could share some sniffing game with your GWP...
Good luck

I just got a 11 week old cairn terrier last week. Jake's first response was to jump behind my father who was sitting in his recliner. If the puppy is loose in the house, he heads for higher ground, if she is in her ex pen, there isn't a problem. She chases him thoughout the house and if she corners him he will growl. I know this is a big adjustment for him. He really hasn't met her close up, because all she does is chase him. He doesn't even go up to her while is crated or in her pen. Should I be concerned that this isn't going to work? I know it's still early. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Patience, JK.
He'll get used to her, they may not be best pals, but they'll eventually get along. When I first got my GWP, he chased my older dog (A coonhound) around the house constantly, biting her tail, ears, feet. She did the same thing Jake did, got up on the back of the couch, the bed, anything to get away from him. Eventually, with correction, he learned from me and her that biting is not tolerated, and cornered dogs can be mean. I would take them places together if you could - the park, on runs, in the car, etc. Feed them together and let them outside together. It's funny, now that my dogs have grown older together, the coonhound will always take the GWP's side in a play fight with other dogs, and she gets emotional about it too!
Good luck!
-N

Just an update. Jake is slowly getting a little better. When I am holding the pup will come around and sniff her bottom and just give her a look over. I think I overestimated his socialization. So we are going to be taking him and the puppy to training classes. Our local vet has a 8 week session that involves a lot of socialization and training. I hope this works.

with this kind of size difference, I would suggest letting them get used to each other by using an exercise pen. This way, you can moniter them without fear of the little one getting stepped on or intimidated by the bigger dog.
I would certainly recommed getting a dog of the opposite sex to your current dog. Having two dogs of the same sex can cause problems down the road, especially between a terrier and other dogs
good luck
Nikki